


Fire Lights the Way

by gingercanary



Series: Darkness Can Be A Comfort [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Blind Sara Lance, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Lita Rory explores the Waverider, Vulnerable Sara Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26122609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingercanary/pseuds/gingercanary
Summary: Exploring the ship was technically not something Lita was allowed to do. Then again, she was born thanks to her father doing something he was technically not allowed to do, so that unwritten rule was not going to stop her. After Behrad’s tour of the lab, which was clearly just a weed cave, and Nate’s tour of the library, Lita slipped away. Sure, her… uncles? Were sweet and all, but the Waverider intrigued her. Millions of wires, metal plates, dark corners and secret rooms. She wanted to know all of it. The ship sparked her curiosity, who was she if she didn’t fan the flames?orSara mourns Laurel in the secret-not-so-secret room on the Waverider. Lita's gone exploring and finds her.
Relationships: Sara Lance & Laurel Lance (history), Sara Lance & Lita Rory
Series: Darkness Can Be A Comfort [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896748
Comments: 8
Kudos: 32





	Fire Lights the Way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SophiaCatherine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaCatherine/gifts).



> This wasn't meant to be a round of grief but I am grieving so here we are.

Exploring the ship was technically not something Lita was allowed to do. Then again, she was born thanks to her father doing something he was technically not allowed to do, so that unwritten rule was not going to stop her. After Behrad’s tour of the lab, which was clearly just a weed cave, and Nate’s tour of the library, Lita slipped away. Sure, her… uncles? Were sweet and all, but the Waverider intrigued her. Millions of wires, metal plates, dark corners and secret rooms. She wanted to know all of it. The ship sparked her curiosity, who was she if she didn’t fan the flames?

Finding the secret room wasn’t exactly hard. All she had to do was ask Gideon to pull up the Waverider’s schematics. Getting inside was easier. Lita was starting to question whether it was actually a secret or just a secret from everyone else. She popped the door open, slid through, then quietly closed it. But she wasn’t quiet enough. 

“Who’s there?!” Sara’s voice had an edge that Lita hadn’t heard from her before.

“Lita. Hey, aunt Sara.” She kept her eyes down on her foot placement. There was no need for eye contact and the room was secret for a reason. If anywhere on the Waverider would be boobytrapped, it would be this room. With her left hand, she grabbed hold of one of the stillages, making sure to step only on the edges of the metal panels.

The rattling of the metal seemed to amuse Sara. “If I boobytrapped this room I wouldn’t manage to get here alone, kid. C’mere.”   
Sara’s sunglasses lay beside her as she sat on the old couch, her boots unlaced and on the ground. A blue light hung in front of her, the way Gideon’s avatar would. But it wasn’t Gideon, no. It was someone Lita hadn’t seen before.

Carefully stepping around the many stillages filled with weapons, Lita made her way to Sara. She reached out and placed a hand on Sara’s shoulder as her father had taught her. “Never startle the boss,” he’d said. Sara’s shoulder tensed up under her fingers.

“Sit,” Sara said in a hushed tone. 

Lita could hear her father’s voice inside her head, warning her for Sara’s dangerous sides. Sara was the person Mick knew best. At least, when it came to the current team of legends. She sat down, her hand sliding from Sara’s shoulder to her wrist. She looked at Sara, the seemingly empty expression, the way her shoulders stood. She didn’t seem on guard at all. 

Sara raised an eyebrow and said, “I can still feel you staring, even if I can no longer see it. What’s up, why’d you go into this room?” 

Her vocal cords pulled tight, Lita let her fingers slide from Sara’s wrist. “I wanted to explore by myself. Gideon showed me the Waverider’s schematics and I was curious.” She turned her head toward the blue hologram. “But Gideon said that this room’s not in use anymore. What are you doing here, if I can ask you that?” 

The last half of that sentence turned Sara’s head. “If I can ask you that?” She echoed. 

It was a phrase Lita taught herself quite quickly, given her ability to blurt out blunt questions and realise conclusions before anyone should. Her mind ran at twice everyone’s speed, which meant no one could stop her from blurting out information she herself shouldn’t even know. To avoid a fight, she taught herself the phrase. “I can’t ask you that?” 

Sara laughed and shook her head. “Oh, you can. I just never expected such manners from anyone on this ship. I’m here because people won’t disturb me here. Usually.” She nudged her head in Lita’s direction. 

“Do you want me to leave?” She chewed on her lower lip, looking around the room. Her mother always told her curiosity killed the cat, but nothing was quite so satisfying as learning things most people didn’t know or couldn’t understand. Knowledge truly was power, and as a rather small young woman, she would do anything for that power. 

She watched as Sara extended her arm, fingers spread out gliding over the soft couch toward Lita. Seeing with her fingers. No, it’s fine. Stay. Sooner or later I truly should get to know Mick Rory’s daughter.” Sara found Lita’s hand and took it. 

“I don’t define myself by my heritage,” she snapped. “When I do it makes me feel like my life has already been laid out for me, I only have to follow the paths.”

Sara smiled. “Oh, I don’t either. But I do acknowledge my heritage. Accept it.” She sighed. “I’m the daughter of an alcoholic and someone with severe attachment issues. I know what shapes me.” She focused her blind eyes in the direction of the blue hologram. “What shaped us.” 

“Who’s that?” The blue hologram floated in front of them. Gideon’s tint changed her colour but Lita could make out enough. The woman was blonde, with bright eyes and a smile that promised you everything would be okay. She wore a sleeveless turtleneck and her left shoulder had recently been patched up but she was smiling. Next to the woman sat someone Lita could recognise. “Oh.” The sudden realisation sent a shiver down her spine. “Never mind.”

Rubbing her forehead, Sara let out a heavy breath. “You are suspiciously smart, Lita. The moments when you are silent you’re doing mental calculations at a thousand miles an hour.”

Lita shifted her weight more toward Sara, careful not to let go of her hand. “Mom always says I’m calculating. Whenever I take a breath and think, my eyes go from corner to corner. Up and down, left and right. Considering everything, weighing all the options. She says it scares her sometimes.” Her gaze moved on, to the dark crate on the lowest level of one of the stillages. “How I can figure things out. She thinks it’s going to get me killed someday.” 

Sara picked up her sunglasses, fidgeting with them. “Yeah, I get that. My sister was like that. Smart, fast. Impulsive.” The words hung in the air. “She’s the best person I know- knew.” After a moment of silence, Sara let go of Lita’s hand, slowly poking her in the side. “You’re going to be great, kid. Trust me on this one.” 

Momentarily ignoring the words etched into the crate, Lita watched Sara’s expression. “Why do you think so?” The words weren’t coming from a place of self-doubt. They came from genuine curiosity, a need to know Sara. To know a captain is to know a ship.

“‘Cause.” Sara waved with her sunglasses. “You remind me of her.” 

“Felicity?”

Sara laughed. “Oh, yeah her too. But I meant Laurel. My sister.” 

“The one who died-” Lita touched her fingers to her lips but it was too late to stop herself. Since her father was, well, Mick Rory, she knew many vigilantes. Laurel had been one of the few she never got to meet. 

“Yeah… It’s been years. But whenever her birthday or her death date is near…” Sara traced a line over her leg. “I have Gideon alert me. Then I hide in here for a bit to remember her. Now that I can no longer see her face I’ve been struggling.” She cleared her throat. “More so than usual. She was always the best canary.” 

Lita memorised Laurel’s face. “I know it’s shitty as hell when people say this but I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve heard stories. She was wonderful.”

“Is wonderful,” Sara bit. “For as long as I will remember her she is wonderful. Present tense.” 

A tear fell from Sara’s clouded eyes and Lita chewed on the inside of her cheek, wishing that once again, she could take back her words. “Laurel is wonderful.” Sara’s muscles relaxed a little. “Can I ask you a question?”

Sara leant to Lita. “What is it?”

“You come here every time her birthday or death day is near… Have you ever brought someone along?” 

The tear fell into Sara’s lap, followed by a few others. Neither of them mentioned it. “No.”

“Why not?” 

Shoulders slumping, Sara once again reached for Lita’s hand. Held out hers, palm up and simply waited.

Lita lay her hand in Sara’s.

“Because grief is different for everyone. Some people cry for days. Others spend their time laying on their bunk staring into the darkness wishing they could trade their soul for the deceased. Some try to kick, punch, and scream their way out. A few simply fall apart.” 

As Sara spoke, Lita caught fleeting images of these stages of grief. They weren’t somehow transported into her brain, no. She could just imagine. Grief was wholly unknown to her but learning was her forte. Learning how to interact with everyone felt important.

“But no matter what type of grief you go through, everything hurts. And you don’t want everyone’s pity. You said, ‘I know it’s really shitty when people say this,’ and you’re right. People don’t want to hear it. But it’s become a social obligation.”

Lita ran her thumb over the back of Sara’s hand. “A social obligation to disturb a grieving person’s time.”

“Exactly.” Sara reached up and tugged at a strand of her hair. “Death… For the deceased, it can be peaceful. Sometimes. For those that have been left behind, not so much.”

Lita nodded before realising Sara couldn’t see that. “When someone you love dies a piece of your heart dies. Is that it?”

Sara smiled. With her fingertips, she traced her way up Lita’s arm, shoulder, until she could cup Lita’s cheek. “She would’ve liked you, you know? Smart, strong, super-impulsive. Not afraid to say things how they are.” Sara closed her eyes. “Lita, I do not share my grief with anyone because I know how people are taught to act.” 

“Yes, you said that.” She waited, the hand on her cheek warm and sure. 

“You seem to discard social norms as Charlie does. It’s a nice change of pace.” Wiping away her tears, Sara leant back. 

“I’m my father’s daughter.” For the first time, Lita stretched out her arm, her fingertips grazing Sara’s wrist.

Sara snorted. “Yeah, Mick isn’t one for social norms either. I love him for that.” She smiled. 

The faraway look in Sara’s eyes gave Lita the impression Sara was thinking about the adventures she’d had with Mick. Actually considering her words, Lita asked, “What was she like? Laurel, I mean.” 

“Fiery. Ambitious. A little reckless at times. Once, she went after a huge guy with just a baseball bat and a ski mask because he hit his girlfriend.”

Lita eyed the tears rolling down Sara’s cheeks and the smile on her lips. She took Sara’s hand. “She sounds a lot like you. When I just came aboard the ship, dad told me about who you used to be. The Canary, the first one. That you said no woman should ever have to suffer at the hands of a man. Isn’t that what Laurel was saying?” She smiled. “Well, she said it with a baseball bat but the message was the same.” 

“Laurel had a light in her, something I never had. She was… Everything she did was done out of the goodness of her heart.” Sara’s free hand went to her necklace and she clutched the pendant. “Laurel is the canary I want to be. The one I’m trying to be.” Her voice shook. 

“Well, you know. Can’t have that light without going through the darkness first.” 

Sara furrowed her brows. “Are you sure you’re not some reincarnation of Kendra? You keep saying such adult things.”

Lita laughed. “Sorry? As far as I know, I am just me, Lita Rory.” 

“Well, Lita Rory is pretty awesome.” Sara slowly reached out, careful not to poke out Lita’s eyes, and ran a hand over her hair. 

“Thanks. So, since I’m awesome…”

“Yeah?” 

Lita eyed the large crate again. “Will you tell me what’s in this room? I’m curious.” 

“Sure.” Sara launched into a long and detailed explanation about the room as Lita watched her. Perfectly confident in her words, her gestures aimed at the correct locations through blind guesses. Lita hadn’t known Sara with sight.

But blind? Sara seemed more secure in her role. Comfortable giving up the things she can no longer do, like steering the Waverider. Accepting help still seemed to be a big adjustment for her but she hadn’t kicked Lita out. Lita hadn’t helped her with something she was unable to do herself, no. Sara had let her in, Sara was vulnerable to her. In turn, Lita figured she could trust Sara. But for complicated homework questions, she was still going to aunt Ava.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I love blind Sara. The plot line was worked out in the worst way possible so here I am, guiding it to a better life. If you enjoyed this, or love blind Sara too, let me know! I'm @ginger-canary on Tumblr.  
> Love,  
> Freckles


End file.
